Pleasure-railway.



N0. 808,487. PATENTED DEC. 26, 1905. G. B. STAHL.

PLEASURE RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 7. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Wilmaooeo, C E 5am g No. 808,487. PATENTED DEC. 26, 1905. G. B. STAHL.

PLEASURE RAILWAY,

APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 7. 1905.

2 SHEETSSHEBT 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PLEASURE-RAILWAY- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1905.

Application filed September 7, 1905. Serial No. 277,425.

To it whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. STAHL, a citizen of the United States,residingat Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inPleasure- Railways; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in pleasure-railways for use atamusement-resorts, and more particularly to one in which thepassenger-carriers are air and water tight cars in the form of submarineboats, whales, sea-serpents, and fishes and are adapted to be propelledon a track which has portions submerged at varying depths in a naturalor artificial lake, pond, river, or other body of water, so that as thecars make their trips they will appear to dive one or more times to thebottom of the body of water and then rise to the surface, thereby givingthe passengers in the cars a novel and pleasing sensation.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple appliance of thischaracter which will be well adapted for the purpose for which it isintended.

lVith the above and other objects in view the invention consists ofcertain novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement ofparts, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of anappliance embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic sectionalview through same, taken on the plane indicated by the line 2 2 inFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view through one ofthe cars, and Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view throughthe parts shown in Fig. 3.

In practicing my invention I provide a track 1 of any form andconstruction and of any length and shape in a body of water 2, which maybe either natural or artificial. This track 1 is undulating and hasportions 3 submerged inthe lake or body of water 2 at greater depthsthan its remaining portions 4. The entire track or only portions of thesame may be submerged, and its course may be straight or circuitousbetween two points or endless, so that the cars or passenger-carriers 5which travel upon it may move in a continuous circuit. In the embodimentof the invention herein shown the track is end less or continuous and ofsubstantially rectangular form and is submerged in a lake of similarshape. prises two parallel rails 6, which are secured to a trestlemounted upon the bottom of the lake or body of water and comprisingconnected uprights 7, which are supported by braces 8, as will be seenupon reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings. The track-rails 6 have doubletread-surfaces 9, which are engaged by upper and lower wheels 10 11,ournaled upon supporting-brackets 12, which are secured upon the outersides of the car 5. These wheels or rollers 10 11 are grooved, as shown,to engage the rails and effectively prevent the car from leaving thetrack.

The cars or passenger-carriers 5 are water and air tight and may be ofany desired form and construction; but they are preferably built toresemble submarine boats, whales, sea-serpents, and fishes. Eachcomprises a large hollow body 13, which has upon each side, at front andrear, brackets 12, which re semble the wings or fins of fishes, legs ofani mals, legs of sea-serpents, and the like. The body 13 is hollow tocontain sufficient air for the passengers who are seated upon benches orseats 14., arranged in an upper chamber or compartment 15. The latter isarranged in the upper portion of the body 13 and is separated from thelower air container or compartment 16, although in communicationtherewith, through openings 17, as shown. The openings 17 permit the airto circulate through chambers or compartments 15 and 16, so that thepassengers in the upper one will have plenty of pure fresh air while thecar is making a trip about the track from a starting-point P, which ispreferably at one corner of the lake, as shown in Fig. 1. of thedrawings. The passengers enter and leave the compartment 15 through itsopen top, which is closed by a removable hood or cover 18, formed,preferably, of glass or other transparent material. This cover maybe ofany form and construction; but, as shown, it is substantially convex ordome-shaped and is hinged, as at 19, at one side and has afastener 20 atits. opposite side. The surrounding edge of this cover or hood 18 has awater and air tight connection with the open top of the car, asindicated at 21. At the starting and stopping point P and at otherpoints around the track or course 1 the track is at such an As shown,the track com- IIO elevation that the upper portion of the body is abovethe level of the water, so that the passengers may readily look out uponthe surface of the lake, and the cover or hood 18 may be readily thrownopen to'permit the passengers to enter or leave the car. Any means maybe provided for propelling the cars over the track or course 1. As shownin the drawings, I have provided a tractioncable 22, which is arrangedbetween the track-rails 6, and suitable gripping devices which aremounted upon the cars and adapted to be operated by the operator orperson having charge of the car, to grip and release said cable, so thatwhen said cable is engaged the car will be drawn along the track by themovement of the cable, similar to the pleasure-railways now in generaluse at amusement-resorts. Any suitable means may be provided forsupporting and guiding the cable, and the gripping device 23 upon thecars maybe of any suitable form and construction. As shown in Fig. 4 ofthe drawings, the device 23 on each car is operated by a rod 24, whichextends through a stuflingboX 25 in the bottom of the body 13 and isconnected to an operating-lever 26, which is mounted in the compartment15 and is provided with a pawl-andratchet locking mech anism 27 ofwell-known form.

The construction, use, and advantages of my invention will be readilyunderstood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings. It will be seen that when one of the cars ispropelled around the undulating track 1 it will alternately dive to thebottom of the lake and then rise to the surface, thereby giving thepassengers a novel and pleasing sensation. By providing tunnels in whichappropriate scenery is mounted, the amusement may be increased asdesired.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it willbe understood that I do not wish to be limited to the preciseconstruction herein set forth, since various changes in the form,proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted towithout departing from the principle or sacrificing any of theadvantages of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

A pleasure-railway having a trestle provided with uprights, a submergedtrack having its rails secured on the inner sides of the uprights andprovided with upper and lower tread-surfaces, and a water-tight carhaving depending brackets on its sides, and wheels mounted on saidbrackets and engaging the upper and lower surfaces of the track-rails.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witn'esses.

CHARLES B. S TAHL itnesses R. LoUIs MOORE, JOHN STIMMEL.

